Readers write: Trump editorial coverage

President Donald Trump (r.) meets with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Feb. 13, 2017.

Evan Vucci/AP

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Joan Greig

Monitor reader

Carolyn Muir

Monitor reader

February 18, 2017
—Trump editorial coverage

Regarding Milton Love’s Dec. 26, 2016, letter criticizing the lack of editorial comment about Donald Trump in the Monitor: I agree 100 percent with his remarks and have been very frustrated throughout the past year at the most bland coverage of Mr. Trump, whose win of the presidency was based on hatred, discrimination, and division.

He exemplifies all the things we’ve been taught to deplore since early childhood: lying, cheating, hatefulness, pettiness, name-calling, selfishness, bigotry, bravado, etc.

The way he conducts himself is the opposite of how a president should behave, let alone a human being.

The lack of a moral stance in this election has been very disappointing.

Milton Love’s remarks in your Readers Write column regarding the Monitor’s political coverage highlighted one of the things I love about the Monitor: namely that, while it may constructively criticize actions, opinions, and policy, I have not seen the Monitor defame someone’s character, even slightly. To do so would be counter to its stated mission to “injure no man, but to bless all mankind.”

This is so needed when degrading terms such as “liar,” “crook,” “bigot,” and “unfit” are being liberally lavished on everyone holding or running for public office.

This practice dragged down 2016’s US electoral process and the press coverage of it in ways certainly not seen before in my not-so-short lifetime.

The complete cessation of applying such character-defaming labels (and encouragement in this direction by the press) would do much to heal this country and our troubled world at large.

I have never appreciated this aspect of Monitor coverage more than I have over the past year, and I thank the Monitor for leading the way in this regard!